Kenya Condemns Reports of Racist Treatment of Africans Fleeing Ukraine Conflict

Kenya has condemned reports of alleged discrimination against Africans trying to flee Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

There have been reports that Africans fleeing the conflict in Ukraine were being treated in a racist and undignified manner at some border points, including being prevented from leaving.

Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amb. Martin Kimani said reports that racism has characterized the ongoing humanitarian response in the Russia-Ukraine conflict was disturbing.

“There are credible reports of African students being made to stand in the back of the queue when getting on trains and buses for safety,” Kimani said during the 11th UN General Assembly emergency session over the Ukraine situation on Tuesday.

“We wholeheartedly condemn such racism against Africans and people of African descent. We reject racism at all times and in all places for its inhumanity, at the very same time as we denounce the illegal and inhuman nature of the war in Ukraine,” he added.

The diplomat urged countries bordering Ukraine to take action against officials or units that may be reflecting attitudes and behaviors that are unacceptable.

The African Union (AU) also released a statement decrying reports that African citizens are being refused the right to cross borders to safety as they try to flee the conflict in Ukraine.

AU stated that all people have the right to cross international borders during conflict, and should enjoy the same rights to cross to safety, notwithstanding their nationality or racial identity.

"Reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach of international law," AU Chair, Senegal's President Macky Sall, and Moussa Faki Mahamat head of AU Commission said in a joint statement.